Thursday, February 7, 2008

Spend your Euros...in NYC

This is amazing and awesome - maybe this will encourage the US government to print up some money that's actually visually appealing, instead of plain old greenbacks (yeah yeah, they put a hint of pink in the new $20, but that doesn't hold a candle to the Euros' vibrant blue, pink, green and yellow).

I imagine this must make checking out at the store more of a hassle, unless they post the Euro price as well as the dollar price - they'll have to sit there with a calculator, figuring out how much it'll be (unless they're totally gypping buyers by having them pay 10Euros ($15) instead of the $10 ticketed price).

At the Canadian and Mexican borders, they've been accepting Canadian dollars and pesos in some of the stores for years, but this is the first time New York has gotten in on the action.

13 comments:

I don't have too many left over. But then, I have a foreign currency collection. I try to keep at least one of each coin or small value bill wherever I go. So part of me doesn't like the fact that they have all the same currency in Europe, because that cuts down on the different ones I can get, but I do have some old ones from the first time I was there...

It's a little scary how little a dollar is worth anymore. We're way overdue for some international travel but I gotta say the exchange rate seems prohibitive. Hope it gets better some day, I want to see a lot more of the world.

lmao...well, I can't say as to how the money in Cairo smells or looks, because I have no idea (except that it's different than the ones I have now). I was responding more to Crabby wishing she could travel more...just don't go to Europe and you'll be fine! Though the plane tickets to Cairo certainly aren't cheap...

There is so much to see in the North American continent that will cost a lot less. For instance, I am going hiking in the Smoky mountains during the last weekend of this month. Roundtrip fare to Atlanta: $198. Of course, there is a 3 hour drive from Atlanta to the secluded cabin ($95 per day) I have rented in the mountains. But that should be a good scenic drive though!

True, there is a lot to see here, but it's not as interesting (to me)! I'd much rather go to someplace when they speak another language, have a (considerably) different culture), have different food, and see things that I just can't see anywhere near home. Now, of course, that means that I'm paying lots of money, but it's worth it in my mind...

Raina, you are right. But the North American continent includes Mexico (just ignore Cancun) and Canada, where they speak different languages. And you can drive to Montreal and Ottawa. A person should be able to wrap up a long weekend in either city for less than $400. Let me know if you want to do a road trip to Canada one of these days.

It's true you can go to Canada and speak another language (hell, that'd be awesome! I love French!), but the culture isn't considerably different. The culture is different in Mexico definitely, but I would put Mexico in the exotic travel category, though I tend to avoid it a little just because it strikes me as a very touristy destination. I like the idea of Egypt (or Asia or Central America or eastern Europe, etc) because it's so different from what we have here and while it may be touristy, it's not something you can easily experience. So there's a heftier price tag attached, but that's because it's harder to get to.

I would love to go to Montreal sometime, or Quebec, but probably not for a while since I'll be saving to go to Cairo...